Improvement in metallic cartridges



'JOHN LOGAN AND D. winnonnnon, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN METALLIC CARTRIDGES.

.Specificationforming part of Letters Patent No. 97,537, dated December 7 1869.

To all whom fit may concern.:

le it known that we, JOHN LOGAN and D. W. Ermanno?, both OlQBOston, in the county ot' Sultoll; and State of Massachusetts, have invented Improvements in Metallic Cartridge- Shells; and we do hereby declare that the following, taken in connection with the drawings which accompany and i'orrn part of this Specii'icaiion, is a description of our invention sutileicnt to enable those skilled in the art to practice it. i

Our invention relates to improvements in that class ot'- ilangcd iron central-lire cartridges which are used in breech-loading guns mostlyv charged with shot, though they may be charged with a single projectile.

Figures 1 and are central longitudinal sections of cartridgeshells embodying our invention.

ais a cylindrical shell ol' brass or other suitable moral or alloy, which is formed with an t utwardlyproiecting iiange, I), which serves the. usual purpose ot' a stop to prevent the cartridge from being pushed too far into the chamber of the gun, and of arim for the cartridgeextraz-.tor to act against in withdrawing the shell i'rom the chamber of thc barrel. The material oi' the shell is extended as an inwardlyprojecting-i'lange, @,fto'ward the axis of the shell, but leaving an opening of about the diameteroi' an explodedcap, which` takes the form of ai cross, as seen in Fig. 3. The cartridge-shell is provided with a breech-piece, d, preferably made of bronze or other suitable lallojv or metal, oi' the form shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and ot' the diameter of the bore ot the shell, so that the breech-piece can be entered at the mouth of the shelland pushed down against the flange e. ihe breech-piece is made with a cap-nipple, j', proectingltoward the opening lei't by flange c, which nipple is countcrborcd from its projecting end to receive a hollow steel cylinder, y, the bore of the Steel bushing being continued through the metal ot the breech-piece, so as to admit tire to the 'powder contained in a. shell when a cap is eX! ploded upon the nipple. As in central-tire breech-loading guns the hammer forces a pin toward the center of the nipple, it follows that' the steel bushing receives the force of the blow, and experience shows that it eec't-ually withstands such blows,'and remains unnj ured by them. The nipple, being made of bronze, does not rust like steel, and, being made integral with the breech-piece, does not work loose or break.

rEhe breech-piece is held in place in either of the following ways: Inl the groove seen at 'h a strip ot' solder is wound before the breech-piece is forced home. After the breechpiece is forced against the flange e, the shell is heated sufiiciently to cause the Solder to iiow into the joint between the periphery oi' the brceclrpiece and the bore of the shell, so lthat the two parts are neatly and cft'ectually soldered together; or the metal ot' the ease may be depressed into the groove in thebreeelr piece, as seen in Fig. 2. The purpose of the inwardly-projecting ilangc e is to retain,'in the cavity between said flange and the nipple, the exploded cap until the shell is withdrawn from the gun, when it may be picked out with a kniteblade or any suitable sinalliinplement. This iiange c prevents exploded caps from ialling into the joint between the barrel and the vbreech-blockot1 the gun, or into the mechanism of the gun, which is liable to Occur with cartridges having projecting central-fire nipples. 1n cartridges like the Berdan the shell is In vour cartridge, it will be seen that the shell is quite obtuse, Owing to the concavitjr which we give the face against which the ex. plosion reacts.

To hold the steel bushing of the nipple, we slightly bevel the corner ot' the exposed end ot' the bushing, and rivet the metal of the nipple over the chainfer of the bushing, which, with a tightdriving iit of thc bushing in the eounterbore of' the nipple, eft'ect'ually holds the bushing in its place.

We claiml. A cartridge-shell made of a tube of thin sheet metal, open-ended, Vand with. Aone end formed into the iiange b, and brceched with a separate piece of metal, with which the nipple is integral when the nipple is exposed, so'

weak, and apt to rupture in the angle formed angle oi' the breech-face with the wall of the f that it;- can be capped and recappd, as dc. fin thev rear end of thc shell, for the purposel scribed.- E specified.

2. A cartridge-shcll-'in w ich -the brecchpiece is made separate from the tube, when combined with anipplc .integral with the 'T breechpiecc and hushed, as described.. Witnesses:

V3.-'.lbc Bange c, projecting inwardly,` and FRANCIS GOULD,

combined with a nipple contained in a cavity J. B. CROSBY. 

